Granny’s Attic recently awarded $130,000 to local nonprofits for health care needs and programs on the island, including one of the largest grants it has ever provided: $90,000 for Vashon Community Care (VCC).

From its thrift store proceeds, Granny’s Attic disperses its grants twice a year and made its most recent grant decisions last week after 52 of the shop’s volunteers voted on funding eight of the 11 grants submitted. Of those, five nonprofits received awards, ranging from those that address the needs of island seniors and teens to those that work to improve public safety.

At VCC, news of the $90,000 gift was extremely welcome, according to Verna Everitt, the executive director of the Vashon Community Care Foundation, which is in the midst of its campaign to raise $500,000 this year. The center looks to the community and beyond each year to supplement its budget in part because Medicaid does not provide for the full cost of care for residents in the center’s skilled nursing unit and assisted living apartments. Everitt had requested $100,000 from Granny’s, she said, but is very pleased to receive $90,000, which will be designated for the center’s operating budget.

As she shared the news of the sizeable grant with the residents, she said many of them were visibly moved upon hearing the news.

“I am so excited,” she added. “What Granny’s did with this grant is say, ‘We want everyone to know the value of the people who live here.’”

With donations coming in, financial gifts expected from an upcoming VCC fundraising event and the Granny’s grant, Everitt said she will still have to raise $125,000 by the end of the year. She has been pursuing grants from off-island and island sources, she said, and is also working to spread the word about VCC to those who have never been there and are unfamiliar with its work.

Tim Johnson, the business manager at Granny’s Attic, noted that in the four years he has been in his position, he has not seen a one-time grant this large and believes the only other grants of this size would have been for capital projects years ago at the Vashon Health Center.

VCC is extremely popular among Granny’s membership, Johnson added, and the grant received overwhelming ‘yes’ votes.

The next largest Gran-ny’s grant, at $17,500, went to VashonBePrepared, an organization working in partnership with Vashon Island Fire & Rescue (VIFR), for an all-terrain utility vehicle equipped with a specialized package of emergency rescue and firefighting equipment. Called a Gator, the vehicle will be helpful in a variety of situations, according to VIFR Chief Hank Lipe.

“It’s a great asset to have, but we have not been able to fund it because of other priorities,” he said last week. “It will give us a huge expansion of our capabilities.”

The vehicle can be used for emergency medical calls, fires and rescue situations, Lipe added, and will be especially helpful in walk-in beach communities and in Vashon parks and trail systems, such as at Island Center Forest. Additionally, he said if the climate continues to produce hot, dry summers like this last one, the vehicle will give the department faster capabilities in the woods, allowing firefighters to more quickly extinguish fires and prevent them from spreading out of control.

Rick Wallace, president of VashonBePrepared, noted that when he was deployed in the Snohomish County Emergency Oper-ations Center during the Oso landslide, they put every available Gator in the region to help responders work on “the pile,” and it could prove similarly valuable on Vashon.

“This will be an invaluable tool during a landslide response, and we know all too well that we have a significant landslide risk around the edges of our island,” he said.

Additional funding for the Gator will come from VashonBePrepared, which will contribute $3,600, and VIFR, which will provide $5,000.

Granny’s members awarded the third largest grant in this cycle to The DoVE Project, which  received $15,220 for its teen advocacy program.

As part of its teen dating abuse prevention curriculum, DoVE sends staff members to Vashon High School four times a month to talk about healthy relationships, technology and dating and breaking up. The staff members — a man and a woman — go to the high school during lunch and the SMART periods, when students do not have classes scheduled, enabling students to get to know DoVE staff without going to the office or attending a more traditional workshop, DoVE Executive Director Betsey Archambault said.

“We are trimming our strategy to go where the kids are,” she added. “In our programming, we have figured out this is the way to strategize. As we grow, we get better, and we adjust how we are reaching people.”

Funds from the grant will fund staff time and supplies for the program.

Meanwhile, to help seniors remain living independently in their homes, Vashon Senior Center received $5,000 for its Neighbor to Neighbor program. This program, now in its second year, pairs island volunteers with seniors who need assistance in some way, whether it be help with yard work or someone coming in to visit and read out loud. The program is going well, Ava Apple, the senior center’s executive director, said last week. She said Neighbor to Neighbor has 55 volunteers and close to 100 clients.

The $5,000 will pay for Apple’s volunteer coordinating time for approximately six months, she said.

Finally, Vashon’s Care Closet received full funding for its request of $2,280. The Care Closet is a volunteer-run organization that provides recycled, non-prescription medical equipment, such as walkers, commodes and toilet risers, to people who need them.

When Granny’s receives some of those items as donations, it passes them on to the organization, Johnson said, but the grant provides $1,000 for incontinence supplies, which are in high demand, as well as money for the Care Closet to move from its current location at Island Funeral Service’s garage to Sunrise Ridge.

Lisa Devereau, one of the Care Closet’s managers, said the group will move soon, as it has outgrown the space at the funeral home. People can still drop donations of such items off there, she added, and she will take them to the new location.

Last week’s grants marked the second granting cycle of the year for Granny’s Attic, and Johnson noted that with its ongoing support of some programs and both the spring and fall grants, it is on track to grant $270,000 this year.

In February, Granny’s moved from its longtime home at Sunrise Ridge to its current location in the IGA plaza. The move has been good for the thrift store, Johnson said, noting volunteers and staff now find it more efficient to receive, sort and sell items that are donated, and it is easier for customers to get to the store and move around in it once they are there. That has translated into more donations and sales, he said.

To cover the increased rent at the new facility, the store needed a 3 percent increase in sales, he added, but sales have been running 10 to 12 percent above last year’s record pace. The increased proceeds translate to more funds for grants to disperse to health-related needs on the island.

“The thing that excites our membership more than anything else is giving away money,” Johnson said.